But it’s not as easy as just getting out on her bike and continuing with her normal training plan, Armitstead reveals she has had to tailor her training since the 2012 Games in order to be in peak condition for Rio.

While her World Championships win in Richmond last year required repeated short efforts up the climbs on the course, the Rio road race will feature climbs of up to 30 minutes long which requires a completely different type of training.

Armitstead plans to race around 40 days leading up to Rio, and with the Spring Classics underway the 27-year-old has to combine her training for those challenging races without neglecting her Rio work.

“The Rio experience for me is going to be completely different to London,” she said. “I went into London as a young, inexperienced rider who was just hoping to come [in the] top 10, but I’m going to Rio for gold.”